This will mostly be a photo dump. So many wonderful memories!
(7/6) Loooong day of driving. We made Missoula, MT by late afternoon. We had dinner at the Pita Pit (the kid's pick--we discovered Pita Pit on our way through ID a couple of years ago, and it quickly became a fam fave). After dinner, we went back to the hotel so the kids could swim.
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| T pose! |
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| Cheese! |
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(7/7) Today was another long day of driving, but we made it to Yellowstone! We did the NE portion of the park taking in the Blacktail Plateau Dr, Undine Falls, Tower Falls, Sulpher Cauldron (which D thought smelled gross), and the Mud Volcano. We ended the day at the Shoshone Lodge, which was built by my great granddad, Henry Dahlem. We'll be staying here for the week, with Granddad, Grandma, Shannon, Mike, & Kieron.
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| Roosevelt Arch |
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| Undine Falls |
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| Undine Falls |
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| Petrified Tree |
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| Hike to Wraith Falls |
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| Blacktail Plateau Dr |
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| D @ Dragon's Mouth |
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| Dragon's Mouth Spring |
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| Bison tracks |
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| Roadtrippin' be all like |
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| Lodge horsies |
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| Horsies! |
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(7/8) Happy 12th birthday to C! We celebrated with breakfast at the lodge as a group, and then headed out to Cody. Along the way we stopped near Wapiti, WY and Granddad showed us the ranch where he grew up. It's no longer in the family, so I just took some pictures from the end of the drive. Beautiful land! From there we headed to Buffalo Bill's Center for the West in Cody. We spent several hours touring the museum. C's favorite part was the extensive firearms exhibit. From there it was time to go shopping! J picked out a raccoon hat at the museum, and C & D picked out western hats at another store. C also found a cap gun that he just had to have. We had dinner with Granddad's cousin, Gene, at the Irma Hotel and ate in the booth with my great granddad's photo (Henry Dahlem was the first sheriff of Park County). It's always fun to sit and listen to Granddad and Gene swap stories!
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| The ranch |
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| The ranch |
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| Gorgeous hillside |
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| Teepee! |
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| Buffalo Bill Cody |
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| Stamping their passports as we made our way through the museum |
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| J *loooooves* rocks right now |
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| & particularly liked this piece of Gypsum |
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| Golden eagle wingspan |
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The boys told me they most wanted to see
a tumbleweed on our trip.... I found one! |
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Taking a break.
It was a hot day! |
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| Buffalo Bill's saddle |
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| Buffalo Bill |
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| J found a bunny |
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| Looking the part |
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(7/9) We went to Old Faithful this morning, and then drove the Grand Loop and stopped a few places along the way (Fountain Paint Pots, Firehole Lake Dr, Virginia Cascades). It was a beautiful day! The drive was long and we were pretty done by the end of it.
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| See, I was actually there! |
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| Big horn sheep |
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| Old Faithful |
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| Beehive |
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| I really liked the reflection in this one |
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| Heart Spring |
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| Cool algae |
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| Castle Geyser |
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| Castle Geyser |
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| Orange Spring (D's fave color) |
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| D was fascinated with this bacteria mat |
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| Clepsydra Geyser |
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| D & Clepsydra Geyser |
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(7/10) Today we went out to the Grand Tetons National Park. We went all the way through to Jackson Hole, had lunch at the Snake River Brewery, and then took in the sights along the way back, stopping at Mormon Row, the Snake River Overlook, and Schwabacher Landing. We saw a herd of prong-horn deer and lots of bison.
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| O hai! |
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 | Old Mormon Row
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| I'm squishing yer mountain! |
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| Daniel Boone boy by the Snake |
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| Soooo many butterflies along the Snake |
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| Snake Overlook |
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(7/11) Granddad treated the boys and me to a trail ride this morning. I haven't been riding in so long. My horse's name was Fred (Granddad's name too). We had a lovely ride up to the overlook and back. Uncle Mike coached D at corn hole this evening, and he was enthusiastically high-fiving everyone when he scored. It was adorable!
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| J on "Happy Appy" |
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| C on Bernie |
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| Gorgeous! |
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| Granddad on pokey Custard |
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Group shots -- J did not want to be in the picture, so that's why you see
Happy's rump instead. |
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(7/12) I went up with the grands, Shannon, and the bebe back into the park today to take pictures of Canyon Falls. It was beautiful! We passed quite the herd of bison (which were walking back and forth across the road). We stopped in Fishing Village for souvenirs and ice cream then headed back to the lodge. D had a crazy nose bleed when we returned, which took forever to get stopped. Dry air plus altitude equals a big ol' mess. The whole group had dinner together at the lodge on this last night, and played a little corn hole before turning in for the night.
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| Group shot! |
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| Article on my great granddad |
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| Shoshone Lodge article |
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| Granddad and his granddad ~ he definitely favors him! |
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(7/13) Today was day 1 of a whole lot of driving. We headed out early after checking out of the lodge. We rolled into Missoula mid-afternoon, and the kids immediately went swimming. I eventually dragged them out so we could go to dinner. We went to MacKenzie River Pizza Co, and the food was amazing! (The beer wasn't bad either) Once back at the hotel, the kids let their meals settle, and then were right back in the pool. I finally pulled them out at bedtime, and we watched a little TV and were done for the night.
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| Roaring Mountain |
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(7/14) Lots of driving again today, but today we are HOME! It was an amazing trip, and the kids already miss the hot chocolate and the horses. Now to go through the bazillion photos!
(7/15) Back to the grind for me today. At least I got to work from home. Dad is shifting his schedule back to graves over the next couple of days. It was nice to see him in the daylight hours for a little while. I'll go back to being the "Kind Lady"
(that lets him live in her house) and he is the "Uber Driver." LOL
